Continuing in our journey to revisit the saga of Lord Krishna, let us today study closely this verse from the great Bhagavad Gita.
अस्माकं तु विशिष्टा ये तान्निबोध द्विजोत्तम |
नायका मम सैन्यस्य संज्ञार्थं तान्ब्रवीमि ते ||
Chapter 1, verse 7:
O best of Brahmins, hear too about the principal generals on our side, who are especially qualified to lead. These I now recount unto you.
Commentary:
Dronacharya was the commander in chief of the Kaurava army and Duryodhan, in this verse, addresses him as ‘dwijottam’, or the best amongst the Brahmins. He chose this word deliberately to address his teacher. The reason for this was that Dronacharya was not really a warrior by profession; he was a teacher of military science. Duryodhan, due to his deceitful nature, thought that Dronacharya might be like him too and would not fight against the Pandavas with full force. Therefore he used flattery to bring a positive response from the Acharya and in the process he betrayed his real scepticism.
Doubting the loyalty of Dronacharya, Duryodhan calls him ‘dwijottam’, reminding him that if he did not fight to the fullest in the field, he would be nothing more than a greedy Brahmin, enjoying the pleasures of the palace of Duryodhan.
Having demeaned Dronacharya to his heart’s desire, Duryodhan now looked to boost his own morale as well as that of his teacher. He therefore, started recounting the fact that his army was filled with such great generals leading whom would be a great achievement for Dronacharya.
The above explanation of the verse shows Duryodhan’s manipulative thinking wherein he addresses his childhood Guru in a tone of misplaced pride which is highly arrogant. Ultimately this false ego of Duryodhan’s led to his downfall in the Mahabharata.
